Federalism and Expansion: The Collapse of the Federal Experiment in Cameroon and Aftermath

The Federal Republic of Cameroon (1962–1972) became one of the most striking examples of federal dysfunction in Africa, freed from the colonialists. In fact, the goal of the federalist deal concluded after decolonization between the elites of French-speaking and English-speaking Cameroon. This was not the dispersal of power in a diverse society nor the protection of the English-speaking minority, but the territorial absorption of one part of the country by the other. The path to this “fraudulent contract” was tortuous and complex; it took a little over ten years. The irony, however, is that the perversion of the federal idea began to affect Cameroonian statehood in the most negative way after several decades. The war for the independence of the so-called Ambazonia, waged by separatists in the former English-speaking enclaves, shows that neglecting the “federal principle” where it seems to be in demand can be very costly.